The latest season of Prime Video’s The Rings of Power is full of legendary characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal The Lord of the Rings. Some of the cast was familiar to anyone who has ever watched Peter Jackson’s adaptations, like Elrond, Galadriel, and the dreaded Sauron. But others may be mysteries to those who haven’t yet listened to the books, including the enigmatic Tom Bombadil.

In The Rings of Power, Tom arrives in Rhûn to “see what’s happened” and to try to stop the desolation that is spreading. It’s there that Poppy, Elanor, and The Stranger come upon him. While Tom is fascinating, he’s also a confusing fellow in Tolkien’s lore. So, just who is Tom Bombadil?

Who is Tom Bombadil in The Lord of the Rings?

Tom Bombadil features prominently in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book of The Lord of the Rings. He's described as an old man with plenty of wrinkles, a long brown beard, and blue eyes. He's shorter than a man but taller than a Hobbit. He likes to wear blue and seems to not have a care in the world.

Shortly after leaving The Shire, the Hobbits of the Fellowship are waylaid by an enormous tree called Old Man Willow. The tree traps Merry and Pippin, so Frodo goes looking for help and finds Tom Bombadil. Though seemingly uninterested in their plight or larger journey, Tom goes with Frodo and commands Old Man Willow to release the Hobbits, which it immediately does.

The Hobbits return to Tom’s home with him to rest and eat, and that’s where things get even stranger. The Hobbits are dining with Tom and his wife, Goldberry, when Frodo inadvertently tells Tom all about The One Ring. Though Frodo has been incredibly secretive about it up until this point, he finds Tom’s home dreamlike and cannot help himself. Even stranger, when Tom asks to inspect the Ring, Frodo hands it over.

Tom rolls the ring around in his hand and then haphazardly puts it on his finger. Nothing happens. Tom does not turn invisible. He also seems completely immune to the dark and terrible temptations of the ring. He tosses it in the air and makes it disappear, only to reappear in his other hand before he gives it back to Frodo. Worried that he’s been given a fake, Frodo puts the ring on and disappears. But Tom can see Frodo even under the power of The One Ring. He instructs Frodo to take it off, but only because he thinks the Hobbit’s hand looks fairer without it.

They continue on their quest, but not long after, the Hobbits cross paths with Tom Bombadil again. Tom gives Frodo a magic song to call Tom, and when the Hobbits are trapped by the supernatural Barrow-wights, Frodo sings the song, and Tom commands the Barrow-wights to release them. Just like with Old Man Willow, the Barrow-wights obey without question or hesitation.

So, why didn’t Tom Bombadil just take the Ring?

Near the end of The Fellowship of the Ring is the Council of Elrond. In this famous scene set in Rivendell, the Fellowship of Nine is formed, their mission set to destroy The One Ring. After witnessing Tom’s power a month earlier, our Hobbits bring up the possibility of giving Tom the Ring for safekeeping since he seemed thoroughly unaffected.

Gandalf wisely dismisses this idea. While the Ring has no power over Tom, Gandalf believes that Tom would not have the power to alter or destroy it. Furthermore, Tom is so disconnected from the lives of mortals that he would not understand the threat of the One Ring. He would not understand nor care what they were asking him to do. He would be just as likely to misplace the ring, and Sauron would certainly bend all his forces against Tom to get the Ring back.

Ultimately, this is likely why Tom was left out of Peter Jackson’s films and other adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. While he’s a fascinating character, he does nothing to further Tolkien’s plot. He doesn’t have a profound effect on any other characters, nor does he engage in any sort of drama. In fact, he seems as immune to drama and conflict as he is to the power of The One Ring.

Where can I hear more about Tom Bombadil?

In addition to The Fellowship of the Ring, Bombadil does appear in one other book that Tolkien wrote, a poetry collection called The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Published in 1962, the book collects 16 poems by Tolkien about the various myths and creatures of The Lord of the Rings. Despite the name of the collection, only two of the poems are about Tom: “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil” and “Bombadil Goes Boating.”

As obscure as these poems are compared to Tolkien's novels, what little we know of Tom's history comes from here. He came to Middle-earth before the Dark Lord and possibly before the Valar. He bore witness to the emergence of the forests and the rains. He was present for the First and Second Ages in addition to the Third Age, which is the setting of The Lord of the Rings. Just how much of the history of Middle-earth Tom personally bore witness to is unknown, though he was certainly around. While it's not clear how much he interacted with the various races of Middle-earth, he entered the folklore of all of them, with each giving him a name in their own tongue. The elves named him Iarwain, meaning “old/young” and Ben-adar, meaning “without a father.” Men named him Orald, while the Dwarves called him Forn.

He met his wife, Goldberry, long before the events of The Lord of the Rings. She was a river spirit who managed to capture the seemingly uncapturable Tom. He commanded her to let him go, which she did, as all do when Tom commands. However, he was smitten, going to the River-woman to ask for Goldberry's hand in marriage.

Wait—what is Tom Bombadil?

He's very powerful. He's very old and immortal. He's completely unaffected by The One Ring, an object so dire that not even Gandalf is willing to touch it. If he's not man nor Hobbit nor elf nor wizard, what is Tom Bombadil?

That very question has been hotly debated for as long as Tolkien's story has been lit upon our imaginations. Tolkien himself never clearly explained the nature of Tom Bombadil. In one of his letters, he said, "As a story, I think it is good that there should be a lot of things unexplained (especially if an explanation actually exists)..." While he explained a great deal of the cosmology and mythology of The Lord of the Rings, he never provided clarification on Tom Bombadil. There are some prevailing theories, though.

The most widely accepted theory is that Tom is one of the Ainur, one of the angelic beings who created Arda (the Earth). These were the first primordial beings to enter existence, and they wielded great power. One possibility is that Tom is one of these, and he fell in love with Arda and Middle-earth so much that he decided to stay and live.

Another prevalent theory is that Tom Bombadil is the personification of Arda. His powers are chiefly over "wood, water, and hill," according to his wife. His only concerns seem to be with the great forests of Middle-earth. When Gandalf visits him near the end of The Return of the King (a visit recounted only in the story by Gandalf), Bombadil's only interest in Gandalf's winding story is the part dealing with the Ents. As for Dark Lords and vast armies and magical rings, he has no interest.

Some have theorized that Tom Bombadil is actually God, but that is one theory that Tolkien himself dismissed. Tolkien stated, "There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who indeed remains remote, outside the World." Others have theorized that Tom is the reincarnated spirit of the Music of the Ainur, or one of the Nameless Things that have inhabited the depths of the world since Ainulindalë, or even that he is merely a man. Nothing more. Nothing less. Perhaps Tom Bombadil is one of these things or none. Perhaps he is all of them. Regardless, he’s an unforgettable character whom fans are still arguing about 70 years after he first appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring.